Lithuanian champions Gintra of Šiauliai began the second UEFA Women's Champions League qualifying round in Køge, Denmark, on Wednesday.
In the Group 7 semi-final, Šiauliai's women's team faced Scottish champions Hearts of Edinburgh.
Despite showing admirable determination throughout, Gintra could not hold on to their first-half lead and lost 1:2 (1–0 at half-time) to their opponents.
On Saturday, Gintra will contest third place, which would allow them to continue in UEFA Europa Cup qualifying. The other semi-final confirmed Riga FC Women as their opponents, after the Latvian side lost 1–4 to tournament hosts HB Køge.
Starting lineup: A. Herasymchuk, T. Romanovskaja (E. M. Lwangu 65'), M. Yancey, L. Kubiliūtė, S. Amorim, A. Mikutaitė, M. Galkina (V. Lavreniuk 81'), T. Brown, L. Ribeiro, A. Hakasalo (J. Blaževičiūtė 46'), K. Pereviznyk.
Gintra: M. Yancey (43'), one.
Hearts: E. Dolan (56') and K. Jardine (65'), one goal each.
The match began without much of a feeling-out period, with hard challenges from the opening moments. Hearts had slightly more possession, but Gintra matched them physically. In the 19th minute, captain Algimantė Mikutaitė fired a dangerous effort over the crossbar.
In the 29th minute, a Hearts player rattled the frame of Alla Herasymchuk's goal, fortunately striking the crossbar. Moments later, another dangerous Scottish attack again ended with the ball touching the crossbar, but the score remained 0–0 after half an hour.
Kristina Pereviznyk escaped the defence and had a good chance, only for her shot to be blocked at the last moment. Gintra nevertheless took the lead before the break: defender Makeila Yancey met K. Pereviznyk's corner and headed into the net for 1–0.
Artūr Sikorskij made a change at half-time, bringing Justina Blaževičiūtė on for Anni Hakasalo. Early in the second half, J. Blaževičiūtė showed exceptional pace to get past three defenders, with only the goalkeeper denying Gintra a second goal.
In the 56th minute, Hearts made a set piece count as Ellen Dolan headed in to equalise at 1–1.
The Scottish champions took the initiative after scoring and punished Gintra again. Kayla Jardine put the opponents ahead in the 65th minute: 1–2.
Gintra responded and fought back. Elizabeth Lwangu came on and brought extra energy to the attack. The Lithuanian champions battled until the final moments but could not find the equaliser that would have taken the tie into extra time.